Black Friday works in Lewiston

by jmaloni

Sat, Dec 1st 2012 12:00 pm

Black Friday doesn't have to be associated with "big box" stores and middle-of-the-night wake-up calls any longer. Local retailers in The Village of Lewiston came together this year for Lewiston's first retail district-wide Black Friday event.

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by Rachel Jolbert

Black
Friday doesn't have to be associated with "big box" stores and
middle-of-the-night wake-up calls any longer. Local retailers in The
Village of Lewiston came together this year for Lewiston's first
retail district-wide Black Friday event.

Several
Lewiston merchants opened their doors at 7 a.m., offering
door-busters and special deals and then additional discounts
throughout the day.

Angel
to Apple owner Jamie Symmonds has been running Black Friday sales for
the past four years at her clothing and accessories boutique, and
this year was no different. At 7 a.m., Symmonds arrived at her store
with multiple eager customers waiting to cash in on her door-buster
deals.

She
explained, "The first time doing anything is difficult." But,
"People were very supportive of Black Friday and of Lewiston."

Symmonds
said she hopes that more retailers in Lewiston will participate next
year, and grow it for years to come. "Collectively, as a community,
we need to give it (Black Friday) another chance."

Tony
Petrocelli, owner of Lewiston Music, also participated in the Black
Friday event, and was very pleased with the outcome.

"I
was pleasantly surprised," he said.

His
store normally opens at noon every day, but he was happily greeted by
more than a dozen customers before 10 a.m., something that would not
have happened without opening early for the event.

Petrocelli
offered deals that included discounts on merchandise, gift
certificates and buy-one, get-one music lessons that drew in four new
music students. He plans on participating in the event next year, and
he said he hopes Black Friday will continue to grow with support from
the community.

Employees
at D'Avolio's Olive Oils, Vinegars & More, another retailer
that participated in the event, said they were very pleased with
their outcome, too. At 7 a.m. when the store opened early for Black
Friday sales, store workers were greeted by a few customers anxiously
waiting outside their door. D'Avolio also plans to participate in
the sale next year.

Grandpaws
Pet Emporium was also featured in the event, but their employees were
not greeted by "early-bird" customers when they arrived at 7 a.m.

These
Black Friday participants offered giveaways and storewide discounts
for their patrons throughout the day. Although they did not have a
busy morning, Grandpaws did have a busy day overall.

The
store is hoping to get the word out earlier about Black Friday next
year.